Politics

Congressman aims to protect minors from online commercialization

Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. of Tennessee has introduced legislation that will prevent social media sites from using pictures of minors posted to their sites for commercial purposes, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.

Taking users’ page likes and using them for commercial advertisements has become a staple of social media advertising, which further exposes children on the internet, according to Duncan.

“Children spend way too much time attached to their computers and over-share online,” Duncan said in a statement. “They need to be protected online, not put in harm’s way as a way for a website to make money.”

Duncan explained that he heard complaints that social media sites are using people’s images without permission after they had ‘liked’ a particular site or product, and his bill aims to protect underage users’ images from being used without their consent.

The Forbidding Advertisement Through Child Exploitation Act, introduced Wednesday, aims to protect underage users from becoming targets of online predators when their information is broadcast commercially without their consent or even knowledge. When a user likes a company’s social media page, the company turns around and promotes themselves using that user’s like as an endorsement.